Spyware Weekly Newsletter :· May 11, 2004

The Spyware Weekly Newsletter is distributed every week to 20,000 subscribers and read online by hundreds of thousands of visitors. Please read our Terms of Use for quoting guidelines. http://www.spywareinfoforum.info/newlsetter/may11,2004.

Wherever the term "adware" is used, it is referring to a category of software, not to any particular company or product.

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In February, someone launched a massive denial of service (DDoS) attack against SpywareInfo and several other antispyware web sites. These sites are all in operation again after taking rather expensive steps to defend themselves.

Sadly, the attackers have not given up the attack against antispyware sites. ComputerCops.biz is being hammered by a similar attack, possibly by the same people who attacked SpywareInfo.

The cost of bandwidth used up by the attack is close to putting this site out of business. This would be a great loss to the antispyware community and they need serious help to prevent it from happening. If you can spare a few bucks and have a Paypal account or don't mind signing up for one (signing up is free), please contribute what you can to help this site stay alive.

The address is http://www.spywareinfoforum.info/rd/ccdonate. Thank you very much for helping out.

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This is a very cool, very useful program. You could spend an hour rummaging through your computer deleting your browser cache, cookies, temp files, address bar history, and even those nearly impossible to delete index.dat files. With Windows Washer, you don't have to waste all that time and energy. Window Washer makes doing these tasks quick and easy.

I've been too busy to take care of dumping out the temp folders on the computer lately. When I tested the new version a few months ago, it cleared out an amazing 700MB worth of garbage files, most of it temporary files left over from programs that don't clean up after themselves. It deleted all of these files very quickly. Since then, it has deleted over 3GB of trash files.

Window Washer also deleted the index.dat file in my browser cache, a file that Windows normally refuses to let you alter. It reduced it from 1.8MB all the way down to 32KB. There is an optional setting to clean out the browser cache, address bar history, cookies, and other internet usage traces every time the browser is closed. My only gripe is that it pops the whole program up to do that. It would be much better if it just deleted all of that quietly.

There is an option to overwrite "slack space". "Slack space" refers to areas of the hard drive that show as empty to the system, but might contain data that was deleted previously. Another option adds "bleach to the washing". That is Window Washer's way of saying that it overwrites data with gibberish several times to prevent data recovery programs from putting deleted files back together.

This is a program that sells normally for $39.95. SpywareInfo readers can subtract $10.00 off that price and buy Window Washer for only $29.95. This offer is available only until May 18, 2004, so don't miss out.

There may be some trouble with the Webroot web site. If it doesn't load properly, please try it again later. Sorry for the inconvenience.

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In the last newsletter, I endorsed the US Senate's SPYBLOCK Act and asked people to write their senators in support of it. I've been asked whether or not I support Congresswoman Mary Bono's SPI Act also. In fact, I do not support the SPI Act.

First of all, it becomes entangled trying to define spyware, then regulating that. It would be better to regulate the behavior that is causing so much chaos and anger among consumers than trying to define a word. SPYBLOCK avoids the definition of spyware altogether. Instead, it focuses on the problems caused by spyware and other parasites.

For that matter, "spyware" does not cover most of the software people actually are complaining about, no matter how you define the word. Coolwebsearch arguably is the worst parasite out there at the moment. However, as bad as coolwebsearch is, it is not spyware and would not be illegal if Bono's bill were passed into law.

Second, the SPI Act specifically preempts all existing state laws on the matter. I find that to be distasteful. I don't like the Federal government violating the sovereignty of the individual states that way. The Federal CAN-SPAM law not only makes the spam problem worse by legitimizing unsolicited email advertising, it also overrules existing state laws that did much more in stopping the problem. Last year, a tough California law prohibiting banks and credit companies from providing an individual's personal information to third parties was rendered unenforceable after the industry spent millions lobbying for a Federal law that trumps it.

In contrast, the SPYBLOCK Act doesn't mention states at all, except to say that the states' attorneys-general can file suit against infringing companies. Of course I am not a lawyer, but I take that to mean that existing state laws, such as Utah's Spyware Control Act, would not be preempted.

To be honest, Bono's bill scares me. If it passes and SPYBLOCK does not, it gives a free pass to the worst software out there. C2 Media LTD wouldn't not be impacted. Coolwebsearch would not be impacted. The worst, most disgustingly abusive software out there would not be regulated under SPI Act. I consider it to be little better than CAN-SPAM and I hope it does not pass. A bad law is worse than no law at all.

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If you have or are thinking about using Comcast cable for your internet service, there are some things you should be aware of.

One of the most questionable things about them is their bandwidth usage limits. If a customer uses more than a certain amount of bandwidth, Comcast sends a warning. If your usage continues to remain high, they will disconnect your service. While that is nothing unusual, Comcast goes about it in a very unethical way. Comcast refuses to state what that limit is. How are you supposed to comply with a limit if they won't tell you what that limit is?

Another thing Comcast did in the past irritated me very greatly. When AT&T broadband closed up shop, they transferred their existing broadband customers to Comcast. AT&T agreed to forward their customers' attbi.com email to their new Comcast addresses. However, Comcast informed transferring customers that they would not receive their email forwarded from attbi.com if they did not use Comcast's "transition wizard", a program designed to configure email and other settings automatically.

That never sat right with me. I always wondered why they felt the need to demand that customers run that software. Several months later, the reason was revealed. It turns out that by installing that "transition wizard", you were agreeing to a very questionable license.

The license gave Comcast the right to do a credit check on their customers and then to disclose (or sell) that information to third parties. The license seems to allow Comcast the right to open and read a customer's email without informing them. The license allows Comcast to install new firmware on their customers' cable modem without notification, regardless of whether or not they own the modem (many people buy their own modem). The license also prohibits a customer from joining any future class-action lawsuits against the company.

Funny how none of that was mentioned when they were telling customers who didn't install their software that they would not receive their attbi.com email.

All of that is old news now but I thought I would mention it along with Comcast's newest example of obnoxious behavior. Comcast will be providing new customers with a Linksys wireless router that contains features for which I really have to question the need. It will allow Comcast remotely to detect computers attached to the router, examine their network usage on the local area network (LAN), see how much bandwidth they are using on the LAN and even allows them remotely to deny those computers access to the router.

I say this is going too far. From the router's internet port to Comcast's internet servers is Comcast's business. Everything on the customer's side of the network is none of their concern. What possible reason does Comcast have for snooping into someone's LAN and even disabling a device?

I plan to move in the near future. I sincerely hope to be able to receive either DSL or cable internet wherever I move. However, I refuse to consider Comcast as an ISP. Comcast is too intrusive and their policies and behavior are too questionable for me to spend any money with them.

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Every now and then I see someone arguing that people don't need privacy. They feel that unless you have something to hide, you shouldn't worry about privacy. Personally, I feel that this is a weak argument, that they can't express their opinion in a logical way and have to resort to embarrassing anyone that disagrees with them.

I stumbled across an old post at Slashdot the other day that has to be the most insightful argument for privacy rights I have ever read. I don't want to copy it without permission and it is too short to quote, so I'll provide a link to it instead. I strongly recommend reading it. http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=94484&cid=8113114

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California Senate OKs Bill To Limit RFID Use :: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=19205578

IBM slams RFID criticism as 'anti-retail' :: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,39020336,39153344,00.htm

92 Percent of Organizations With at Least 100 Employees Have Been Contaminated With Spyware, Yet Only Six Percent of Employees Believe They Have Been Infected :: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/Apr/1036172.htm

NY Senator bids to outlaw spyware :: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/?http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/news_story.php?id=56849

Congress Takes a Stab at 'Spyware' :: http://www.technewsworld.com/perl/story/ptech/33602.html

Protect Yourself From Spyware :: http://netsecurity.about.com/cs/generalsecurity/a/aa050204.htm

Picking the right passwords is vital to keeping computers safe from hackers :: http://www.lsj.com/news/business/040504_new_passwords_10d-7dtxt.html

Spyware sneaks into the desktop :: http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,92784,00.html?SKC=news92784

They know what you do online, and profit from it :: http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/business/personal_finance/8589957.htm?1c

California Anti-Spyware Bills Pass Committee :: http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3349621

Sick of Spam? Prepare for Adware :: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,63345,00.html

Spyware — the new scourge of the Internet :: http://www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/World/20040508072604/Article/indexb_html

More articles: http://news.google.com/news?q=spyware+OR+privacy